2010/2011 UEFA Champions League

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Yes, we THINK they'd get slaughtered by Barcelona, but this is football and as we've seen countless times, anything can happen. I'd rather see something along these lines. Surely they'll want to play the top teams now they've finally made it. It'll be hard for them to get an easy group. If they don't get Lyon out of the first pot, they've instantly got a tough group either way. I just think Spurs/Barca could make for a fun match.

[Sam]

You're kidding right? Spurs would get hammered.

[The Future]

That wouldn't stop it from being a fun match.

[Baddar]

Barcelona aren't great at the back - and when they look good it's usually because their opponents are too afraid to attack. Bale/Lennon would rape Alves all night long.

[Pesci]

The way to beat Barca isn't by attacking them, it's by stifling them. If Spurs attacked Barca we'd probably see a cricket score.

[Sam]

Exactly the way to beat them is how Inter played against them last season. Plus I wouldn't worry about Lennon and Bale raping Alves as I doubt they would barely see the ball, the Barcelona midfield is just immense in the way it retains possession. I think the Barca have a weak defence is overdone, it's no worse than other top teams.

On another note looking at the seedings, this is the group I want for United

Man United

Panathinaikos

Rangers

Zilina

a nightmare group would be...

Man Utd

R. Madrid

Schalke

Rubin Kazan

Edited August 25, 2010 by Sam

[Lineker]

Fuck me.

That was an absolutely electric night. Never heard the crowd erupt as they did when Crouch scored early on. And the flags + Champion's League music? Really makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

Bring on the draw tomorrow. 5pm on Eurosport.

[lanky316]

They would get slaughtered against Barcelona, Spurs would be better off having an easyish group to build some confidence, not having a group where they get thumped by Barcelona and find themselves needing results in the other 4 games.

Presuming the Spurs that turn up are the Spurs who pretty much walked over Chelsea and Arsenal within a couple of days (almost a hat-trick with Man Yoo away but an off day and a couple of penalties the difference) they're capable of taking on anyone, especially at WHL. I'm not saying we'll do the double over Barca (and ideally we want to avoid them in the group, obviously) but I wouldn't be massively concerned against any of the big boys without deluding myself that it'll be easy. Mind you we did just slaughter someone without leaving second gear...

This Europe lark is piss easy

[stokeriño]

a nightmare group would be...

Man Utd

R. Madrid

Schalke

Rubin Kazan

Funny, this is virtually the same group I am predicting for Chelsea. Although I randomly went for FC Twente over Rubin Kazan.

[Jimmy]

It's awesome that Spurs got into The Champions League. Honestly, it's just nice to have a different representing the English League's. I hope they surpise everyone and have a really good run.

Also, Defoe's finish was wonderful.

[Shelty92]

They would get slaughtered against Barcelona, Spurs would be better off having an easyish group to build some confidence, not having a group where they get thumped by Barcelona and find themselves needing results in the other 4 games.

Presuming the Spurs that turn up are the Spurs who pretty much walked over Chelsea and Arsenal within a couple of days (almost a hat-trick with Man Yoo away but an off day and a couple of penalties the difference) they're capable of taking on anyone, especially at WHL.

... but then there's the possibility of the Spurs turning up who were 3-0 down inside, what, 30 minutes against YBB.

Seriously, Spurs are less than 24 hours into the big time and people already talk about how they could beat Barca? :/

[stokeriño]

To be fair, Chelsea got to the quarter finals in their first season in the Champions League. That was after winning a group with AC Milan, Galatasary and Hertha BSC. There's no reason Spurs couldn't do something similar.

[lanky316]

They would get slaughtered against Barcelona, Spurs would be better off having an easyish group to build some confidence, not having a group where they get thumped by Barcelona and find themselves needing results in the other 4 games.

Presuming the Spurs that turn up are the Spurs who pretty much walked over Chelsea and Arsenal within a couple of days (almost a hat-trick with Man Yoo away but an off day and a couple of penalties the difference) they're capable of taking on anyone, especially at WHL.

... but then there's the possibility of the Spurs turning up who were 3-0 down inside, what, 30 minutes against YBB.

Seriously, Spurs are less than 24 hours into the big time and people already talk about how they could beat Barca? :/

You're right there's a chance Spurs could field a weakened team, away, on a pitch players weren't able to stand on and get into a rhythm for the first half hour and still be the better side on the night whilst playing shit.

Your attempt at a point doesn't really work as it's a completely different scenario. Fact remains that at WHL Spurs are capable of taking on anyone as they have regularly shown in the last few seasons. People are assuming any meeting would be an 8-0 drubbing when there are no facts whatsoever to show that outcome, all I've done, and you've failed to really argue against is say that at home Spurs would have a chance.

[Hobo]

Pot one: Inter Milan, Barcelona, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Lyon.

Pot two: Werder Bremen, Real Madrid, Roma, Shakhtar Donetsk, Benfica, Valencia, Marseille, Panathinaikos.

Pot three: Tottenham, Rangers, Ajax, Schalke, Basle, Braga, FC Copenhagen, Spartak Moscow.

Pot four: Hapoel Tel Aviv, FC Twente, Rubin Kazan, Auxerre, CFR Cluj, Partizan Belgrade, MSK Zilina, Bursaspor.

I have decided to draw these groups:

Inter

Bremen

Spurs

Cluj

Man U

Madrid

Ajax

Auxerre

Chelsea

Roma

Rangers

Twente

Arsenal

Shaktar

Braga

Rubin Kazan

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

If Spurs are on the kind of form that they played Arsenal or Chelsea in a few months ago then yeah, they can beat anyone. However, they don't have as many of those days as the top top teams have which is probably the main difference now - not so much the quality but the higher amount of form.

[Shelty92]

There's a chance, sure, of Spurs beating Barca at the Lane or anywhere else, there always is, and I'd actually love it if they'd do well in the CL. But people saying how Barca would be in trouble if Spurs attacked them, Lennon and Bale 'raping' Alves and whatnot just threw me off 'cause it sounds like exaggerating the threat Spurs actually pose against Europe's big clubs. They're no pushovers, that's for sure, but I'd wait until at least their first actual match in the Champions League before even wondering how they'd cope against a team like Barcelona.

Hell, back when we played them in 2008 (and 2007) even I wasn't too sure Barca would be in a world of trouble if we'd attack them, and that's back when we had Cristiano Ronaldo for christ's sake.

Edited August 26, 2010 by Shelty92

[Pesci]

I think Spurs could easily beat anyone except Barca and Inter. Barca because they're just a completely different animal to every other team on the planet and Inter because Rafa is a Champions League god. I'd add in Jose at Real but that's still a madhouse so I'm not convinced he'll even get past the first knockout round.

[Baddar]

All I meant with the 'raping' comment is that Bale or Lennon could tear apart anyone on their day, especially Alves who is better going forward than at the back.

Of course Barca would dominate possession. They do in 90 percent of games, but for someone to suggest it'd be a complete walk-over is a tad silly.

I hope we get the chance to discuss this further after the draw.

[Dynamite]

I'm predicting it will be:

Man Utd

Real Madrid

Rangers

Bursaspor

I'd actually quite like this group. Madrid would be a big match (and the one we were all hoping for last year) and seeing Ronaldo back at Old Trafford would be special. The England/Scotland matches are always generally good to watch and I think it's one Ferguson himself would love. And then no group is complete without the obligatory trip to Turkey.

[Pesci]

The bottom two pots don't actually look that intimidating. I'd expect Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal to all give Schalke or Ajax a good seeing to and at worst draw away from home. Unfortunately for Spurs the top two pots look pretty good. I don't think they'll qualify personally, looking at the odds of them getting a tough draw.